Thanksgiving My Way

The picture to the left is 1/2 of the recipe since Tucker’s taking it for a potluck tomorrow.

I got a bit obsessed with dressing for a while and made so many batches of this stuff I thought poor Tucker was going to turn into a sage leaf. This is my go-to dressing recipe and it always turns out great.

As you can see from the picture, 8-9″ pie pans work just as well as a baking dish and makes it easier to freeze if you have any left…which you probably won’t.

Combine your crumbled cornbread and bread cubes in a large mixing bowl. [Pepperidge Farm Country Cube Stuffing works great so that you don't have to cut up bread.]

Cut your 1/2 stick of butter into cubes and sprinkle into bread mixture.

Finely chop your sage and add that to the bread and butter mix.

Cut the bacon into 1/4-1/2 inch pieces and fry until the fat is rendered [great word] and the bacon is crispy. Add the bacon to the bread mixture. Leave the bacon grease in your skillet.

Add the celery and onions to the bacon grease and stir until coated. Once you start to smell the onions and celery, add the garlic and cook another minute or two.

Add the 2 cups of chicken stock. Bring that up to a boil and then reduce the heat to low and cook for about 10 minutes to soften your vegetables.

Let your vegetable-stock soup schtuff cool for about 10 minutes. Once the mixture isn’t second degree burn producing hot, add it to the bread mixture.

Stir in your beaten eggs. If the eggs instantly become scrambled eggs, then you didn’t let your vegetable-stock soup schtuff cool enough and you should start over. *sad panda*

Pour the sloppy [and it should be sloppy] mix into a buttered 8 inch baking dish and place it in the fridge. Let it set for about 4 hours. (Overnight is fine, too.)

Once the dressing slop (Doesn't that sound YUMMY?) has had its chilly nap, preheat the oven to 350° and bake for about 45 minutes.

When you can start to smell the dressing, it’s probably time to check it. You want light brown on the top with the sides ever-so-slightly pulled away from the dish.

Notes

Fresh sage has a more mild flavor than dried as is the case with most herbs. If you don't have fresh, here's the conversion for you. I'm lazy so you do the math. 😀 1 Tablespoon fresh chopped sage = 1 teaspoon dried

Sharp kitchen shears work great for cutting the sage and the bacon.

Whether you use a knife or shears, meat is always easier to cut if it's really cold. 15 minutes of alone time in the freezer for the bacon will do wonders for your sanity.

By Amy Tucker

Taste Like Crazy http://tastelikecrazy.com/

Taste Like Crazy Cornbread

2013-11-27 23:37:37

This is my go-to cornbread recipe for use in other recipes or just for slathering on butter and nomming on. It's dense and versatile so you can add in whatever your little heart desires and this cornbread will welcome the new guys with open arms.

Cut your carrots and celery in half. Quarter your onion. Toss them into the pot.

Smoosh your garlic. Toss in with the celery, carrots and onion.

Put your carcass on top of everything. (The pot should be about twice as tall as the tallest part of your bird.)

Cover everything with water.

Set the pot on the stove and turn the burner to high.

Once the liquid reaches a boil (or a mighty simmer if you're impatient...not that I'm talking about myself), turn the burner down to between medium-low and low. The stuff should not boil. If you can see a good head of steam rising off of the pot then it’s up too high.

The stock is done when you can bend a bone with your hands.

Use a slotted spoon and/or strainer to remove everything but the stock.

Notes

What you add to the basics of bone and water are up to you.

If you ALWAYS cook with garlic then toss it in. Same goes for onions or whatever.

I don't salt my stock since I'm a control freak, when it comes to cooking, and don't want to have to worry about whatever I'm making with the stock being too salty because I was dumb and added salt to the stock.

I promise you the bones really will bend. Really. Promise. It just takes longer than you think it will.

And on THAT note, if your refrigerated stock doesn't jiggle when you take it out of the icebox? Well, my dears, you have yourselves BROTH. STOCK jiggles. It's fun like that.

By Amy Tucker

Taste Like Crazy http://tastelikecrazy.com/

I am very proud of you if you made it this far.

Quick tip on the dressing. If the mixture is too dry, add some more stock. The consistency before you put it in the fridge should be like cream of wheat. When you let the stuff set-up in the fridge, the bread will absorb some of the moisture.